Season 26: Episode 8 - Blindside Time

Blindside Time: I DID MY JOBIt’s night 19 and the Bikal tribe arrives back at camp after having just voted out Julia at Tribal Council. Phillip congratulates Michael for still being in the game. Corinne apologizes to Michael for having to vote out his fellow Fan, Julia. Corinne boasts, “I did my job. I made sure Michael stayed. I made sure I got the gay.” She hopes that Michael will be appreciative and stay loyal to her in the game. Before they can settle into camp, Phillip pulls Corinne and Dawn aside and confesses to them that he threw the immunity challenge today. Corinne reveals, “There was no point in saying, Phillip, I know you didn’t throw the challenge.” Phillip goes on to tell Dawn and Corinne that it was tough for him to throw the challenge, but he felt it was important to send another Fan home. Neither Dawn nor Corinne believes him. They are both annoyed that Phillip is trying to cover up a loss. Corinne admits, “Yes, he’s a very loyal alliance member, but he’s so cuckoo for Coco Puffs that there’s no question that Phillip has to go.”

BIKAL ANTICIPATES A MERGEThe next day, while the Favorites in the Bikal tribe are gathered around the fire, they discuss the likelihood of a merge approaching. Corinne is glad that Michael is on their side because she feels like he is the only Fan left with a strategic brain. Phillip encourages his allies to stay true to their alliance if a merge occurs. Dawn admits, “This is about the point when I played last time that the game fell apart for me.” The last time Dawn was on SURVIVOR, Cochran deserted her and flipped to the other tribe right after the merge. Dawn goes to the well by herself to gather her thoughts, and she starts to cry. She reveals, “It’s almost impossible not to cry when I think what a million dollars can do for my family.” With six children, Dawn knows that the prize money would help her to pay for their college education and more. She doesn’t want to be a passive player this time around. She comments, “You need to be a decision maker in this game. You can’t let the game happen to you.”

TREE MAIL AT GOTAOver at Gota, Reynold is out in the ocean and notices a boat coming towards their camp. He alerts his tribe. They are all excited and run out to greet the two men on the boat. One man hands them a note, which includes a key. Andrea reads the note that tells them to gather up their belongings and load them on the boat to go to their new home. They celebrate, sensing the merge. Andrea reveals, “I’m ready to get back with the Favorites.” She is both excited and worried about what the future may bring. The Gota tribe quickly packs up their camp.

THE MERGE FEASTThe Bikal tribe is shocked to see the boat with all of the Gota members arrive at their beach. Cochran says, “Seeing the boat coming meant the merge had arrived, which is always the part of the game that I’m most excited about.” The Bikal tribe warmly welcomes Gota. Reynold is pleased that his former rivals now appear happy to see him. Andrea uses the key from the tree mail to open a large chest of food and drink. The chest also contains new green buffs, which Erik passes out to everyone. Michael admits, “The first thing we do is go right for the food.” Dawn starts making sandwiches for everyone and congratulates the new merged team for making it so far. The Fans are happy to be there after having survived seven challenge losses in a row. Malcolm suggests that they name their tribe “Enil Edam”. Andrea thinks it means “new beginning.” The majority agrees that is a good name for their new tribe. Malcolm reveals, “I just wanted to name the tribe after my mom. Her name is Madeline. Enil Edam is Madeline backwards.”

TIGHT FOURAfter the feast, Phillip and Andrea separate themselves from the rest of the tribe and talk strategy. Phillip tells Andrea that Cochran, Dawn, along with her and him are a tight four alliance. He assures her that one of the four of them could win SURVIVOR. They both agree that the powerful men from the former Fans’ tribe should be the first ones voted out of the game. Phillip warns Andrea that Corinne might try to use the Fans to further her game. Andrea feels comfortable because the Favorites outnumber the Fans by eight to four. Andrea admits, “This is the when people start scrambling and in scrambles anything can happen.”

CORINNE & MALCOLM MAKE PLANSCorinne and Malcolm are happy to be reunited. Corinne tells him how terrible Phillip has been, especially to her. Malcolm tells Corinne that he does not plan on staying with the Favorites until the end. He reveals to her that he has four votes with himself, Reynold, Eddie, and Erik. Corinne says that she has two votes between herself and Michael. They realize that they have a total of six in their alliance. There are twelve people left in the game, so they need at least one more to have the majority. Malcolm admits, “If we can get through one vote and keep our numbers intact, then we have the ultimate power to do whatever we want.” Corinne recommends that they vote for Sherri next because most people want her gone. Malcolm agrees. She proposes that they vote for Phillip after that to strike a deadly blow to the Favorites’ alliance. Corinne loves being back with Malcolm. She explains, “The most amazing thing about Malcolm is that in a five minute download, we can get on entirely the same page.” Corinne looks forward to blindsiding the Favorites.

TREE MAIL ARRIVES AT ENIL EDAMThe next morning, Cochran reads tree mail to his Enil Edam tribe. It contains words like stomach, bitten off, chew and swallow. Brenda yells, “We’re eating nasty stuff.” The tribe guesses that they may be eating worms, spiders, or other unusual items. Reynold does not like eating strange things. He admits, “The time I need it the most, personal immunity, it’s going to be the thing that hardest for me.” Eddie jokes that this challenge may hurt his ability to attract women if they find out that he ate something disgusting before he tries to kiss them. Cochran thinks this challenge may actually help his image. He explains, “I think this would add a bit of a wild streak to me and might make me seem a little more dangerous. I think this is exactly what my love life needs.”

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE: CARAMOAN CATERINGThe newly merged Enil Edam tribe arrives on their mat. Jeff Probst, the host, takes back the tribal immunity idol from Andrea and reveals the individual immunity necklace. Jeff explains the rules of the first individual immunity challenge, which is a food eating competition. They will race to consume local delicacies in a series of elimination rounds until only two remain. The winner gets the individual immunity necklace and is safe at Tribal Council. One of the losers will be voted out tonight. Andrea, Sherri, Corinne, Erik, Eddie, and Malcolm are the first six to compete in the challenge. The first three to finish will move onto the next round. The first items are revealed – two live beetle larvae. Jeff reminds everyone that this same challenge was done back in the first season of SURVIVOR. Andrea finishes first, followed by Malcolm and Eddie. Sherri, Corinne, and Erik are out of the challenge. The next group to compete is Reynold, Brenda, Phillip, Michael, Cochran, and Dawn. They also have to eat two live beetle larvae, which are crawling around on the plates in front of them. The winners from this round are Cochran, Phillip, and Michael. Now there are six people alive in the challenge to compete in the next round. The first three to eat the food will move forward. Andrea, Cochran, Phillip, Michael, Eddie, and Malcolm reveal shipworms. These slimy creatures are actually part of the clam family, and they eat wood in the ocean much like termites do on land. Malcolm, Eddie, and Cochran get the shipworms down first and therefore move onto the next round. In this next round, the three guys have to consume a delicacy that originated in the Philippines – ballut or duck embryos. The first two to finish the ballut move on to the final round. Cochran and Malcolm get the job done. The duo square off in the final round and have to consume pig brains. Cochran is the winner of the final round and wins immunity. He does a victory dance and says, “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this.”

SCRAMBLING AT ENIL EDAMThe Enil Edam tribe congratulates Cochran for his win as they return to camp. Cochran reveals, “The fact that I won is a dream fulfillment.” Malcolm checks in with Eddie to assure him that Corinne, Michael, and Erik will all vote with him and Reynold at Tribal Council. Malcolm reveals, “I feel like I got all my troops in line, but the situation is very fluid and the only certainty is that we are going to Tribal Council.” He hopes that no one in his alliance decides to stray. Malcolm is happy to have Corinne on his side. Meanwhile, Corinne meets with Phillip. Phillip tells her that he wants to split the votes between Reynold and Eddie to get one of the power players out. Corinne wants to keep Eddie and Reynold around though, so she proposes that they vote out Sherri instead. Phillip disagrees with her and insists they go with his plan. Corinne vents, “I was furious that he wouldn’t even listen to what I had to say and just his utter disregard for anyone else’s feelings.” Corinne meets with Cochran, Andrea, and Dawn next. She encourages them to go against Phillip and vote Sherri instead of splitting the votes for Reynold and Eddie. Cochran just wants to make sure that a Fan and not a Favorite is voted out tonight. He doesn’t understand why Corinne is so against voting for Reynold or Eddie, but he is fine voting for Sherri since she is a Fan too. Cochran worries that Phillip and Corinne are causing a divide in their alliance. He admits, “If the Favorites don’t come together that’s basically admitting to the world, Fans included, that we’re a dysfunctional group.” Cochran worries that the Fans will see these cracks as opportunities to break up the Favorites’ alliance. Later, Corinne meets with Reynold and Eddie to assure them that she is on board with them and plans to vote for Sherri. Corinne tells them that that she hopes to get Dawn to join them. Reynold is excited to be included in this new alliance and hopes that it will work. He admits, “If this vote goes as planned and Sherri goes home, I’ll finally be in an alliance that is calling the shots.” Next, Corinne tries to recruit Dawn. The two meet and Corinne tells her the plan to vote out Sherri first and then Phillip next. She also reveals that she has Malcolm, Reynold, Eddie, Michael, and Erik committed to vote together. Dawn listens to the plan and is troubled with the choice she has to make. She reveals, “Last time I played, I came into this kind of information, and I didn’t share it with anybody and that was my downfall last time.” Dawn does not want to make the same mistake again, so she finds Cochran and tells him about Corinne’s plan. Dawn and Cochran realize that Corinne is dangerous, and they try to devise a plan to vote her out next instead. Dawn points out that they could get Sherri to vote with them. Cochran says, “If we don’t come up with a plan, it could be devastating to my game and the games of my allies.” He meets with Andrea next and tells her Corinne’s plan. Andrea suggests that they get both Sherri and Erik to vote with them and blindside Corinne. She is worried though, since neither Sherri nor Erik is a part of their core alliance. Andrea shares what she has learned with Phillip. Phillip vents, “I will not allow Corinne to take control of this game.” He is happy that his alliance stayed together and got this information back to him. Now he is committed to getting Corinne out of the game. Phillip meets with Sherri and tells her that if she votes for Corinne tonight then she will be looked upon favorably by the Favorites’ alliance. Sherri reveals, “I’m fighting hard to stay in this game, and I’m willing to make a really big move.” She is not happy about working with Phillip though since she finds him very arrogant. Meanwhile, Andrea talks to Erik and tells him to vote for Corinne tonight. Before they leave for Tribal Council, Malcolm talks to Erik and tells him to vote for Sherri. Erik admits, “I have no idea what’s going on, but I feel like I’m the swing vote.”

TRIBAL COUNCILMichael is confident that once again a Fan will be voted out tonight since the Favorites seem to be sticking together, and they have the majority. Corinne sympathizes with how the Fans must feel, but she says that she is willing to talk to them if they have a better plan. Reynold reminds the eight Favorites that the people at the bottom of their alliance can use the Fans to better their position in the game. Andrea admits to feeling vulnerable tonight because her fellow Favorites have proven themselves to be really good at deceiving others. As one of only four Fans left, Sherri feels hopeless about her chances of getting to the end. Reynold feels that change is in the air and hope to see it really happening. The Enil Edam tribe then votes. Before revealing the votes, Jeff asks if anyone would like to play a hidden immunity idol. No one does. Jeff then reveals all twelve votes. Sherri receives five votes and a shocked Corinne receives seven votes. Corinne Kaplan, the 33 year-old who was previously on SURVIVOR: GABON, and now lives in Los Angeles, CA, becomes the ninth person to be voted out of SURVIVOR: CARAMOAN FANS VS FAVORITES 2.

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